For nearly a decade the desktop processor market was firmly in the hands of Intel. AMD just didn't deliver the punch and even low prices could not prevent that gamers made a wide circle around AMD.
But that changed when AMD launched the Ryzen series, which processors up to 8 cores, nearly on par or better in games, depending on core usage.
Now AMD put a second blow to the chin of Intel.
The nicely named new max. 16 core "Threadripper" is as expensive as Intel's latest CPU, but that one has only 10 cores. While Intel has higher GHz, AMD has more raw power.
The result is basically what you expect: The 10 core Intel and the 12 core AMD are on the same level on average while the 16 core clearly beats Intel in all parallelised work.
To increase gaming power the Threadripper allows (through Ryzen Master tool) 2 modes that streamline the core usage
The negative side is that (until now) there is virtually no cooler ready for Threadripper. But this is sure to change.
dl;dr: If you need a lot of parallel power or have lots of parrallel work, get the Threadripper when its there!
German Sources: Golem and heise
